Algerian Minister Mohamed Issa Supports Toulouse Imam Tatai, Accused of Antisemitism: We Hope the Extremist Media Will Cease Affronting Islam

In a July 7 press conference, Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments Mohamed Issa defended Imam Mohamed Tatai of the Mosquée Ennour, Toulouse, who is at the center of a heated public debate over his use of an antisemitic hadith in a Friday sermon, delivered at the Mosquée Ennour in Toulouse and translated by MEMRI (see MEMRI TV Clip No. 6637 Toulouse Imam Mohamed Tatai Recounts Antisemitic Hadith And Prophecies That Israel Will Soon Come To An End, December 15, 2017). Issa accused the "extremist media" of affronting Islam and said that Imam Tatai, who is of Algerian extract, was "too pure" to violate the laws of the country in which he is active. Imam Tatai himself recently apologized that the hadith had been "taken out of context" and "falsified" (see MEMRI TV Clip No. 6663 Toulouse Imam Tatai Apologizes To People Harmed By The Alleged Falsification Of His Remarks In A Previous Sermon By People "Who Fish In Murky Waters", July 10, 2018).

Mohamed Issa: "Sheikh Mohamed Tatai hails from Biskra. He comes from a family of Quran scholars in Biskra. He is too pure to make the mistake of violating the laws of the country in which he is active, or the principles defended by the laws of the country in which he is active. The response I got from the head of the Paris mosque – or rather, from the religious council of the Paris mosque, which was convened with Sheikh Tatai – is that Sheikh Tatai was exonerated from the allegations, and we in Algeria adopt and defend this position. We hope that the extremist media ceases to affront Islam because the Toulouse mosque is yet another mosque that calls for integration of the [Muslim] communities in Europe, and for respect for the laws."